{"id":46436,"date":"2025-09-27T08:54:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T08:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/46436\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T08:54:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T08:54:13","slug":"theyre-exactly-as-i-imagined-them-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/46436\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They\u2019re exactly as I imagined them\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s April, and the cherry blossoms around the suburban homes of Terenure<\/a>, in Dublin<\/a>, are in full bloom. Marian Keyes<\/a> is sitting in a cosy chair, with her feet up on a stool, in a garden shed. This is not just any garden shed. The sign on the door reads The Department of Calm and Efficiency. Inside it are a TV and shelves heaving with golf trophies. A framed T-shirt on a wall reads Minister of Cop On.<\/p>\n

This shed belongs to Daddy Walsh, husband of Mammy Walsh, father of the five Walsh sisters, all characters loved by millions of readers of Keyes\u2019 bestselling novels. The cast and crew are coming to the end of an 11-week shoot for The Walsh Sisters, RT\u00c9<\/a>\u2019s highly anticipated TV adaptation of two of her novels about the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it wonderful?\u201d Keyes says as she looks around the cluttered space, thinking of her late father. \u201cMy dad would have loved a man shed. Somewhere to watch the golf in peace, that\u2019s all he asked for. He would have locked the door and eaten crisps and chocolate and been in here for hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visiting the set has been a surreal and satisfying experience for Keyes. This adaptation has been a long time coming. She has sold more than 35 million copies of her more than 20 books, in 33 languages, yet Watermelon, her first novel and the first of several to feature the Walsh family, is the only one to have made it to television screens, back in 2003.<\/p>\n

Keyes\u2019 second novel, Rachel\u2019s Holiday, a darkly subversive romantic comedy about Rachel Walsh and her descent into, and recovery from, drug and alcohol addiction, was first optioned in 1998. Keyes and her husband, Tony Baines, were flown first class to Los Angeles \u201cand put up in a swanky hotel\u201d. Nothing came of that trip, but lately there has been a clamour to present her work to existing fans and, it\u2019s safe to imagine, a new generation of readers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wait years for an adaptation and then two come along at once,\u201d Keyes says about the fact that a Netflix<\/a> version of her novel Grown Ups is also in the works<\/a>. That one is being filmed around Dublin as well, helmed by Samantha Strauss, the woman behind the streamer\u2019s hit show Apple Cider Vinegar<\/a>. Its impressively starry cast includes Aisling Bea<\/a>, Robert Sheehan<\/a>, Sin\u00e9ad Cusack and Adrian Dunbar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great that it\u2019s happening now, but I never minded,\u201d Keyes says. \u201cI always said the books were enough by themselves \u2013 they don\u2019t need to be legitimised by another medium. But I do have to say this: The Walsh Sisters has been worth waiting for … The writing is brilliant, the women playing the sisters are all fabulous. I couldn\u2019t be happier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keyes had no interest in writing the series herself. In fact, she was the one who recommended that producers consider Stefanie Preissner<\/a>, the writer behind RT\u00c9\u2019s hit show Can\u2019t Cope, Won\u2019t Cope<\/a> and the play Solpadeine Is My Boyfriend. <\/p>\n

Keyes speaks admiringly of Preissner, who has taken her novels Rachel\u2019s Holiday and Anybody Out There, written in the 1990s and partly set in New York, and transplanted them firmly to contemporary Dublin to create The Walsh Sisters.<\/p>\n

\"MarianMarian Keyes on the set of The Walsh Sisters. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

The RT\u00c9 series, made in association with the BBC, follows the messy lives of the five Walsh sisters as they navigate the chaos, self-destruction and sisterly dynamics of their late 20s and early 30s. <\/p>\n

The sisters have a lot going on: there\u2019s Claire, the overwhelmed single mother (who\u2019s played by Danielle Galligan<\/a>); the dependable Maggie (Preissner herself), who is desperate for a baby of her own; Rachel (Caroline Menton), who\u2019s in denial about her addiction issues; the loved-up Anna (Louisa Harland<\/a>), who\u2019s facing a profound personal crisis; and Helen (M\u00e1ir\u00e9ad Tyers<\/a>), the youngest, who is stuck living at home and dealing with her own secret struggles.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Marian Keyes on casting The Walsh Sisters: \u2018The big worry was who is playing Luke Costello?\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Rachel\u2019s Holiday was heavily inspired by Keyes\u2019 own experience of alcoholism. Before she became a writer she attended the Rutland Centre<\/a> in Dublin to be treated for her condition. As loyal readers will know, Rachel\u2019s \u201choliday\u201d turns out to be a spell in a treatment centre called the Cloisters, where various members of the Walsh family attend sessions to tell Rachel exactly how her addiction has affected them.<\/p>\n

In the shed, Keyes, who has been sober for more than 30 years, is thinking about her first visit to the set with Baines, watching on a screen as Mammy, who is played by Carrie Crowley<\/a>, and Daddy Walsh \u2013 \u201clovely Aidan Quinn<\/a>, in his slip-on shoes and anorak\u201d \u2013 walked up the path to the Cloisters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was emotional for both of us,\u201d Keyes says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe. It\u2019s not like the characters are our children or anything, but they came from my head with Tony\u2019s help, and we\u2019ve both felt a lot of ownership of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The author remembers, early in the process, being on a video call with the producer Dixie Linder, the director Ian Fitzgibbon<\/a> and the five actors cast as the sisters.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Walsh Sisters: Marian Keyes on set with with Louisa Harland, Caroline Menton, Danielle Galligan, M\u00e1ir\u00e9ad Tyers and Stefanie Preissner. Photograph Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n

\u201cThe five of them were all talking over each other, exactly the way I am in my family,\u201d says Keyes, who also grew up with four siblings. \u201cThe chemistry between them was real. I believed they were a family. Then seeing them on set for the first time was just a thrill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible thing, watching these characters you made up in your head talking and walking around on a television set wearing sunglasses and bomber jackets. And the wonderful thing is they are each different, each exactly as I imagined them.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s seven years since Preissner flew to London to pitch her vision of The Walsh Sisters to producers. A lot has happened in her life since then, including a new relationship, a wedding, the birth of her two children and the death of her grandmother, \u201ca massive Marian Keyes fan\u201d. <\/p>\n

Talking during a brief break in filming, Preissner is recalling that meeting in London where, having done a deep dive into the Keyes books she\u2019d been reading for years, she laid out her vision for how she\u2019d go about adapting Walshworld for television if she were given the chance. Other writers were being considered, but Preissner got the job.<\/p>\n

Although each of the Walsh family novels, from Watermelon to Again, Rachel, focuses on a different sister, Preissner wanted to create a world where all the sisters and their storylines could exist together. It was a tricky puzzle, because they were all at different ages and stages in each of the novels. Keyes says Preissner has a brain \u201clike a Rubik\u2019s cube\u201d, which came in handy when she was writing the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI needed to pick storylines that would bring them all together,\u201d Preissner says. \u201cIan [Fitzgibbon] and I have a saying: \u2018Where two or more of the Walsh sisters are gathered, Jesus is present.\u2019 It\u2019s just so good when the sisters are together, so I wanted them to all be in the same world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Walsh Sisters: The family and Aidan (Samuel Anderson) around the dinner table. Photograph: RT\u00c9 \"OnOn the set of new RT\u00c9 drama The Walsh Sisters. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Transposing the action from the 1990s setting of the novels was an interesting challenge, Preissner says. The Mammy Walsh we see in the TV version, for example, is different in some ways from the Mammy in the books \u2013 \u201cshe has an iPad and probably doesn\u2019t go to Mass\u201d \u2013 although her frustration and disappointment with some of the life choices of her more dysfunctional daughters remain unchanged.<\/p>\n

There were other challenges in adapting the novels for a contemporary audience. Preissner says she talked a lot to Keyes about the novels, which she says in parts were \u201cfatphobic, white and heteronormative\u201d, a product of the times in which they were written. (\u201cMy thinking has changed profoundly since then,\u201d Keyes says, \u201cand it\u2019s a special kind of shame to have opinions that hurt people enshrined in books that were written 20 or 30 years ago. All I can do is do better now that I know better.\u201d) <\/p>\n

\u201cI asked Marian if we could change that up, and she was totally open to it,\u201d Preissner says. This is reminiscent of Element Pictures\u2019 TV adaptation of Sally Rooney\u2019s Normal People<\/a>, which contained more diversity than the novel.<\/p>\n

For the Dubliner Caroline Menton, a relative newcomer seen most recently in the Irish horror movie Oddity<\/a>, playing the part of Rachel was a huge opportunity. \u201cIt\u2019s a dream role,\u201d she says. Did she feel the pressure and expectations of readers on her shoulders in portraying a legend of popular Irish fiction?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, yeah, it was a big responsibility,\u201d she says. Menton hopes that she has done the character justice and that fans of the novels will approve. It was important, she says, given Rachel\u2019s backstory, to delve into her issues. Keyes says that Menton \u201cdid her research, she knows her Gabor Mat\u00e9<\/a>, she knows that the question is not why the addiction but why the pain?\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Gabor Mat\u00e9: I began to notice that the people who got chronically ill had trouble saying \u2018no\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Before filming began, Menton visited a drug-rehabilitation centre. \u201cI went there and got to speak to someone who was really vulnerable and open and kind enough to share their story with me. It was an eye-opener.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a nuanced story. Rachel, with her stable family background and no obvious trauma, shows that addiction does not discriminate. \u201cAnd this is the power of Marian Keyes,\u201d Preissner says. \u201cIf that novel had been called Girl With a Needle in Her Arm, nobody would have brought it to read on the beach. Marian hides the vegetables in the chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the global success of Sharon Horgan<\/a>\u2019s award-winning Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters<\/a>, there\u2019s no denying that Irish sisters have been enjoying a moment. Does Preissner have any thoughts on the inevitable comparisons between the two shows, which are both set in Dublin and feature gobby, funny, middle-class Irish sisters?<\/p>\n

She says it did lead to some discussion about whether to keep \u201csisters\u201d in the title of the show, which was in development well before Bad Sisters came along. \u201cIt definitely helps that our show is based on Marian\u2019s books \u2013 like, I haven\u2019t just created a show based on five sisters,\u201d she says. \u201cI also think Bad Sisters is very plot driven, where ours is more character driven.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with Horgan, who played a sister in her show, Preissner has taken a lot on, starring in the show as Maggie Walsh while also writing most of the episodes.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the other sisters, it seems reasonable to assume that the show will make stars out of the young ensemble cast. Apart from Louisa Harland<\/a>, who played Orla in Derry Girls<\/a> and does a stunning turn as Anna Walsh, most of them are relatively unknown.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Derry Girls\u2019 Saoirse-Monica Jackson: \u2018Dyslexia shaped me. I\u2019m always thinking two steps ahead\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

M\u00e1ir\u00e9ad Tyers is outstanding as the youngest Walsh. Menton is being spoken of as a potential breakout star. \u201cWhatever happens beyond this point, I did my dream job, and I got to work with these amazing people,\u201d the young actor says.<\/p>\n

Preissner has other concerns. \u201cOur big fear is that we\u2019re going to get commissioned for The Walsh Sisters season two and she\u2019s going to be booked on something else,\u201d she says in mock indignation. \u201cI will be here for it, I will,\u201d Menton promises. \u201cYou\u2019d f**king better,\u201d Preissner says, laughing.<\/p>\n

The cameras are rolling, and I\u2019m standing in the front garden of the Walsh family home, having a whispered conversation with Aidan Quinn. Metres from us, Luke Costello, played by Jay Duffy, is knocking at the Walshes\u2019 door after a harrowing visit to Rachel, his girlfriend, in rehab. <\/p>\n

Quinn is carrying a prop, a copy of Ticket, The Irish Times\u2019 culture supplement. \u201cIt\u2019s a great newspaper,\u201d he whispers. That\u2019s not the only reason we\u2019re blushing. For some of us of a certain age Quinn will always be the handsome star of the Madonna film Desperately Seeking Susan, from 1985.<\/p>\n

The actor, who lives with his family in New York, also whispers that there was a 10-year period when he couldn\u2019t get to work in Ireland because of commitments in the United States. \u201cSo it\u2019s really very nice to come back here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"AidanAidan Quinn, who plays Daddy Walsh, with a copy of The Irish Times’ Ticket magazine, which is being used as a prop. Photograph: R\u00f3is\u00edn Ingle \"CarrieCarrie Crowley and Stefanie Preissner on the set of The Walsh Sisters. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n

He is full of praise for Crowley, who plays the overbearing, perennially put-upon Mammy Walsh. \u201cShe has all the best lines,\u201d he says. I mention a scene in a hotel where he is trying to get romantic with her. \u201cI don\u2019t get very far on that occasion.\u201d <\/p>\n

Quinn is called inside by the director, but later I get a quick moment upstairs in the house with Crowley, who mentions the same hotel scene and adopts her Mammy Walsh persona: \u201cI mean, where in my head do you think I have room to think about sex today with all that is going on?\u201d <\/p>\n

The star of An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain<\/a> has a good feeling about the show. \u201cYou never know until you see the finished product, but sometimes you have a positive feeling. I\u2019ve got that feeling about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

She asks what scenes I\u2019ve watched so far. I tell her about the one with Luke. \u201cRidey Luke!\u201d she exclaims, using a word that is an essential part of the Keyes canon. We agree that Duffy does indeed tick all the boxes required of the romantic hero of Rachel\u2019s Holiday. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd do you know who his father is?\u201d Crowley asks, beaming. Duffy\u2019s father is the Coronation Street actor and former Boyzone star Keith Duffy<\/a>. \u201cAlso ridey,\u201d Crowley declares before heading off for her next scene.<\/p>\n

Every so often on the set of The Walsh Sisters someone will say, \u201cLet\u2019s consult the source of the Nile.\u201d That\u2019s how Fitzgibbon and Preissner refer to Keyes. Back in the shed, the writer told me that she was flattered by the fact that the cast and crew \u2013 she had many of them over to her home for a party before shooting began \u2013 would text her about everything from costume choices to character motivation.<\/p>\n

\"MarianMarian Keyes, Jay Duffy and Caroline Menton on the set of The Walsh Sisters. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw\/The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Duffy, whose casting is arguably the most intensely scrutinised of the show, took full advantage of \u201cthe source\u201d. Keyes has been extremely vocal about \u201cthe thing with Luke. There was a lot of pressure coming over the wires from the fans, saying, \u2018Just don\u2019t f**k this up.\u2019 Everyone has their own idea of what Luke looks like. For me he\u2019s like a young Keanu Reeves, but other people have completely different pictures. It needed to be right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking a break from the set with Galligan, Duffy reflects on the expectations of fans. \u201cWhen you step into something which is loved that much you\u2019re kind of, like, \u2018Oh my God\u2019. There\u2019s a lot of pressure, but it\u2019s the same as with any role: whether it\u2019s loved by fans of a book series or not, you have a responsibility to do your best and trust that you are enough … But then to have Marian a phone call away was brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

What did he ask her? \u201cI wanted to know who Luke was outside of his relationship with Rachel. What makes him tick? What\u2019s his flaw? Because a lot of the book is about how amazing he is and how much charisma he has. But nobody is perfect. And she told me that he sees the world in black and white. He\u2019s very set in his beliefs. That was helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Galligan, who also has a role in House of Guinness<\/a>, the new Netflix drama, was one of the final sisters to be cast. She says she auditioned for two other sisters \u201cbut I fluffed it\u201d. It was both a relief and a thrill when, after a long Christmas on tenterhooks, she was told she had landed the part of Claire, the glam single mother.<\/p>\n

Filming is nearly over when we meet. She says the cast have become like a real family. \u201cWe\u2019ll miss each other when it\u2019s all over.\u201d As with everyone else involved in The Walsh Sisters, Galligan can\u2019t wait to see how audiences react. <\/p>\n

\u201cStefanie has written a really compelling, grounded drama about a family with everyday, real life issues, about addiction, about grief, about sisterhood. But she\u2019s done it in such a way that\u2019s so Irish in the sense that it\u2019s light and funny at times, but also really heavy and emotional. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why I was so excited to be a part of it. I think she\u2019s done an amazing job capturing Marian\u2019s beloved characters and adapting them brilliantly to the world we\u2019re in now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Walsh Sisters begins on RT\u00c9 One and RT\u00c9 Player at 9.30pm on Sunday, September 28th; The Walsh Sisters: The Official Podcast, presented by Marian Keyes and Stefanie Preissner, will be available straight after each episode<\/p>\n

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